SethBlog

We suffered a personal "Economic Downturn" today, when my wife lost her job at Hellman Associates. They called her in, when she was headed out the door for lunch, to tell her that her "position was being eliminated". They handed her a box, and gave her ten minutes to clean out her desk. At least they gave her two weeks of severance pay, and her health insurance continues until the end of the month. So, after going out for lunch with her (our last meal outside the house for the forseeable future), I stopped by the University HR office to add her to my insurance, starting Feb 1. That's another $177/month out of our pockets for health insurance, at a time when I don't really want less pay in my paycheck. :(
The good news is, she didn't want to work there anymore anyhow, she just hadn't found another job to leave it for yet. The company has been "restructuring", and they have far fewer staff than they did at this time last year. They've "eliminated" several other positions, and most of the other young employees had already fled the building, looking for more secure employment.

I realize that I'm used to working in the relatively cushy confines of a University, but they've really treated their employees badly. There were no annual reviews, and no annual raises. The company also stopped contributing to employees 401(k) plans, and didn't bother to notify the employees, we only found out about it when the statements came and the amounts were reduced. In the last month, the deductible on their HMO health insurance doubled, from $250 to $500 per year, and the employee-paid premiums went up by a significant chunk as well. Contrasted with my non-HMO health insurance, of which I don't pay a cent of the premiums, it's not a very attractive place to work, and I'm glad my wife doesn't have to work there anymore. I just wish this had been a bit more planned...